If you had predicted, back at the beginning of the season, that the Wizards would have a legitimate chance of making the conference finals, most NBA fans would’ve questioned your sobriety. Now? We’re all suspicious of your clairvoyance.
Sure, they’d beefed up their frontcourt by trading for Marcin Gortat, they had Nene, and John Wall and Bradley Beal had proven what a lethal backcourt tandem they could be (when healthy), so, yes, maybe they could make the playoffs.
But only the drunkest and John Edward-est among us saw anything beyond a first-round trouncing in their future.
Washington hadn’t done much to alter that sentiment by the end of the regular season, posting a 44-38 record and finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference to set up up a first-round date with the fourth-seeded Chicago Bulls.
The Wizards had won the season series 2-1, but both of those Ws (Jan. 13 & Jan. 17) came within two weeks of the Luol Deng trade (while many players in the Windy City were still visibly distraught). The lone loss seemed much more prophetic. It came in the first week of April and saw the Bulls stroll into Verizon Center and thump the Wiz 96-78 in a game that had to have even the most steadfast fans in D.C. leery of the matchup.
It’s well known by now that the Brooklyn Nets essentially tanked the end of the regular season—losing four of their last five games—to draw the Raptors in the first round. Perhaps lesser known is just how willing the Wizards were to oblige them.
Washington wanted Chicago, so while the Nets half-assed their final games of the season to fall into the sixth seed, the Wiz continued using their whole asses to secure the fifth. They finished the year on a four-game winning streak (albeit against three lottery teams and at home vs. Miami with the Heat resting the Big Three) and entered the playoffs with a ton of confidence.
Confidence that turned out to be fully justified.
The Wizards rolled into the United Center and shocked everyone but themselves by winning the first two games. They eventually sealed the series in five, but what was even more encouraging than the win was the way they did it—it was a complete team effort. Washington had a different leading scorer in each of the four games they won. They also stepped up their defensive pressure, limiting the Bulls to an average of 90 points per game in the series (3.7 points lower than Chicago’s already league-worst regular-season average), and a playoff-low 69 points in the deciding Game 5.
Watching the last minute or so of that game, it was hard not to feel happy for this Wizards team and what they’ve accomplished (unless you’re a Bulls fan, obviously, then it was just plain hard to watch). And with the momentum they carried all down the closing stretch of the regular season still unchecked, you have to think the Wiz were ready to start the conference semis immediately—maybe even that same night.
However, with the Pacers edging the Hawks 95-88 last night to force a Game 7 in Indy on Saturday, Washington will have to spend another few days game-planning for both teams. While that might cause some of the adrenaline and enthusiasm to fade, the Wizards have to like their chances against either prospective opponent.
Indiana took the season series 2-1, but both of their wins came early on, while the Pacers still looked like the team that took Miami the distance in last year’s conference finals. Indy’s struggles down the stretch have been well documented—the first three-plus months of the regular season they went 44-13, but came crashing back to earth with a 12-13 record in March and April—and they haven’t looked any better against Atlanta in the post-season.
The Wizards pose many of the same problems for Indy that the Hawks have so far. Washington has versatile guards capable of getting into the paint and creating off the dribble, great perimeter shooting (Atlanta finished the regular season tied for fourth in the league in three-point field-goal percentage) and solid perimeter defence. They don’t have quite the same level of floor spacing as the Hawks, so Roy Hibbert should be more of a factor should the Pacers advance, but the Wiz have a bigger frontcourt than Atlanta and should have no trouble containing Hibbert, especially if he continues to struggle like he has in the first round.
The biggest question if these two teams square off will be which Pacers team shows up: the one that looked capable of dethroning Miami earlier this year or the one that will be lucky to put away the eighth-seeded Hawks in seven?
But a Pacers-Wizards second-round is miles from a sure thing. So how does Washington stack up against the Hawks?
The Wiz won the season series 3-1, with the Birds’ lone win coming in overtime behind a monster 34-point, 15-rebound game from Al Horford, who has sidelined since January with a torn pectoral muscle and won’t provide much beyond moral support in the second round. The wings on Washington, especially John Wall and Trevor Ariza, were a big problem for Atlanta during the regular season, and Nene and Gortat will be a load to handle down low—especially when you consider the damage David West was able to do in Game 6 (24 points, 11 boards and six dimes on 10-for-20 shooting). Atlanta’s ridiculous three-point shooting (36.6 percent on 31 attempts per game in the playoffs) also fell off a cliff last night and may not be sustainable through a second series. Still, if the Hawks can get past Indy in Game 7, all bets are off.
That’s a bigger if than the Pacers’ recent play might lead you to believe, though.
Atlanta is 0-8 on the road in Game 7s in franchise history. Millsap, Teague & Co. will have to do some serious bucking of tradition, then, to knock off the Pacers in Indianapolis. The Pacers, for their part, have never played a Game 7 at home as an NBA franchise, so they won’t have to buck anything.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow’s Game 7 matchup, they’ll find Washington waiting in the second round as ready as Gandalf on a bridge.
The Wizards in the conference finals? What sorcery is this?